Arizona contractor gets probation for hiring illegal immigrants
Source: Associated Press
A southern Arizona contractor who pleaded guilty to knowingly hiring illegal immigrants was sentenced to probation Thursday in the first case in the state in which authorities pursued criminal charges instead of just fines against an employer in an illegal hiring case.
Ivan Hardt, owner of Sun Dry Wall & Stucco Inc. of Sierra Vista, was sentenced in Tucson by U.S. District Judge Raner Collins to one year of probation for the misdemeanor conviction.
The 49-year-old also had pleaded guilty last year to the misdemeanor charge and a felony charge of conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants, but the felony charge will be dismissed if he pays the government $450,000. That figure consists of $225,000 to cover proceeds that the company received during the time the illegal immigrants were employed there and another $225,000 to settle a civil dispute with the government over its payment to its legal and illegal workers.
... The March 2007 bust of Hardt’s business represented a new approach by federal authorities in Arizona that focused on criminal cases against company officials. Some violators viewed the previous strategy of seeking only civil penalties as the cost of doing business.
Read more: http://azstarnet.com/business/local/sierra-vista-businessman-gets-probation-for-illegal-hiring/article_6966b794-79e1-11e1-b2b0-001a4bcf887a.html